James Young (3,637 views)

[Zedd Squared]

Associated Acts: TW4 (1970-1972), Styx (1972-1984, 1990-1991, 1995-), James Young Group (1993-1995)
Vocal Range: E2-A5

High Notes:

A5 ("Midnight Ride" live WKQK-FM Broadcast 1977)
G♯5 ("Don't Let It End (Reprise)" Caught in the Act 1983, "Manic Depression")
G5 ("Rock & Roll Feeling" live Paramount Theater 1976, "Shooz", "Something to Remember You By", "What Have They Done to You")
F♯5 ("City Slicker", "Rock & Roll Feeling")
F5 ("Lonely People", "Man of Miracles")
E5 ("Chain Me Down", "Clair de Lune / Ballerina", "A Man Like Me", "Manic Depression", "Midnight Ride" live California 1976, "Miss America" live Detroit Unknown Date, "Prisoner of War", "Runnin' Out of Time", "Shooz", "Toys for American Boys")
E♭5 ("Havin’ A Ball", "Mademoiselle", "Miss America", "The Serpent Is Rising")
D5 ("Borrowed Time", "City Slicker", "Clair de Lune / Ballerina", "Eddie", "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)", "Great White Hope", "Jonas Psalter", "Lies", "Lords of the Ring", "Love at First Sight", "Love in the Midnight", "Love Me Tonight", "Man in the Wilderness", "Manic Depression", "Midnight Ride", "No Mistake", "Rock & Roll Feeling", "Something to Remember You By", "Southern Woman", "Superstars")
C♯5 ("22 Years", "The Bigger They Are", "Born for Adventure", "Borrowed Time", "Never Say Never", "She Cares", "Toys for American Boys", "Winner Takes All", "Witch Wolf", "You Need Love")
C5 ("The Best of Times", "The Bigger They Are", "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)", "Brave New World (Reprise)", "Doctor on Call", "Evil Eyes", "High Time", "Lonely People", "Love Me Tonight", "Mademoiselle", "A Man Like Me", "Man of Miracles", "Midnight Ride", "Movement for the Common Man", "No Mistake", "Out on a Day Pass", "Pieces of Eight", "Prisoner of War", "Rock & Roll Feeling", "The Serpent Is Rising", "Snowblind", "Something to Remember You By", "Toys for American Boys")
B4 ("After You Leave Me", "The Best of Times", "Best Thing", "Carrie Ann", "Chain Me Down", "Christopher, Mr. Christopher", "City of Holy Faith", "Crystal Ball", "Eddie", "Empty Promises", "Great White Hope", "The Grove of Eglantine", "Half Penny, Two Penny", "Hallelujah Chorus", "Heavy Metal Poisoning", "Homewrecker", "I’m Gonna Make You Feel It", "Jennifer", "Jonas Psalter", "Lady", "Lies", "Light Up", "Lights", "Lords of the Ring", "Love in the Midnight", "Man in the Wilderness", "A Man Like Me", "Miss America", "Movement for the Common Man", "Put Me On", "Quick Is the Beat of My Heart", "Right Away", "Rock & Roll Feeling", "Sitting on Top of the World", "Something to Remember You By", "A Song for Suzanne", "Suite Madame Blue", "Too Much Time on My Hands", "Toys for American Boys", "Why Me", "Winner Takes All", "You Need Love", "Young Man")
B♭4 ("Best New Face", "Castle Walls", "Doctor on Call", "Don't Get Mad", "First Time", "High Crimes & Misdemeanors (Hip-Hop-Cracy)", "Lonely Child", "Love at First Sight", "Maggie", "Man of Miracles", "Nothing Ever Goes as Planned", "Renegade", "Runnin' Out of Time", "Snowblind", "Time May Bend")
A4 ("22 Years", "After You Leave Me", "Best Thing", "The Bigger They Are", "Born for Adventure", "Captain America", "Chain Me Down", "City of Holy Faith", "City Slicker", "Dark Side", "Double Life", "Earl of Roseland", "Edge of the Century", "Great White Hope", "The Grove of Eglantine", "Half Penny, Two Penny", "Hallelujah Chorus", "Havin’ A Ball", "Heart's Not the Same", "Heavy Water", "High Crimes & Misdemeanors (Hip-Hop-Cracy)", "Homewrecker", "Hundred Million Miles from Home", "Into the Fire", "It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)", "Jonas Psalter", "Just Fell In", "Lights", "Lords of the Ring", "Love Me Tonight", "Lorelei", "Maggie", "A Man Like Me", "Manic Depression", "Midnight Ride", "Movement for the Common Man", "No Mistake", "Not Dead Yet", "Number One", "Out on a Day Pass", "Prisoner of War", "Right Away", "Rockin' the Paradise", "Runnin' Out of Time", "Sitting on Top of the World", "Southern Woman", "Still Feel Your Love", "These Are the Times", "Waiting", "What Has Come Between Us", "Why Me", "Wild Dogs in the Night", "Winner Takes All", "Witch Wolf", "You Better Ask", "You Need Love", "Young Man")
G♯4 ("As Bad as This", "Captain America")
G4 ("After You Leave Me", "Brave New World", "Castle Walls", "City Slicker", "Doctor on Call", "Edge of the Century", "Everything Is Cool", "Faith, Love, and Hope", "First Time", "Heavy Metal Poisoning", "Heavy Water", "Hundred Million Miles from Home", "Locomotive Breath", "Lords of the Ring", "Love Me Tonight", "Miss America", "No Mistake", "Out on a Day Pass", "Quick Is the Beat of My Heart", "Right Away", "Snowblind", "Something to Remember You By", "These Are the Times", "What Have They Done to You", "Young Man")

Low Notes:

F3 ("City Slicker", "Dark Side", "Doctor on Call", "Heavy Metal Poisoning", "Let's Do It Everywhere")
E3 ("After You Leave Me", "Best Thing", "Don’t Get Mad", "Heavy Water", "Maggie", "Miss America", "Still Feel Your Love", "These Are the Times", "Waiting", "What Have They Done to You", "Young Man")
E♭3 ("The Greater Good")
D3 ("After You Leave Me", "Amazing Grace", "Don’t Get Mad", "Double Life", "Faith, Love, and Hope", "Heavy Water", "Jonas Psalter", "Locomotive Breath", "Love Me Tonight", "Snowblind", "Still Feel Your Love", "Quick Is the Beat of My Heart", "Waiting", "What Have They Done to You", "Why Me")
C♯3 ("Captain America", "City of Holy Faith")
C3 ("Empty Promises", "Find the Cost of Freedom", "Love Me Tonight", "Man of Miracles", "Out on a Day Pass", "Snowblind" live Chicago 1993, "Midnight Ride", "Southern Woman" live Nebraska 1975)
B2 ("City of Holy Faith", "Heavy Water", "It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)", "I’m O.K.", "Into the Fire")
B♭2 ("Man of Miracles", "Snowblind" live Rosemont Horizon 1996)
A2 ("Crash of the Crown", "Into the Fire", "It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)", "Midnight Ride", "Miss America" live Chicago 1993, "Shooz", "Too Much Time on My Hands" live Rosemont Horizon 1996, "Trouble at the Big Show", "World Tonite")
G♯2 ("Dark Side")
G2 ("Locomotive Breath", "Maggie", "Manic Depression", "Shooz", "Trouble at the Big Show")
F♯2 ("Fooling Yourself (Palm of Your Hands)", "Prisoner of War")
F2 ("Love Me Tonight")
E2 ("Locomotive Breath")

James Young is the longest serving member of Styx and the token baritone singer of the group. Possessing a strong gritty yell heavily contrasted by a bright, twangy head voice technique, Young is generally something of a vocal oddball. Early in the band's career he took frequent lead vocal spots and would usually sing the 2nd highest harmony (just under John Curulewski) in their songs. During this era, he showcased an impressive amount of head voice dexterity for an untrained singer, but his tone during this time was inconsistent. As his career progressed, he continued to refine his style so that he would usually sing in a darker croon or a heavier belt range in his lead vocal songs, relegating the head voice sound to shorter notes or harmony singing. Overall, while he may not be the most technically proficient singer in the band's history, he's certainly one of the most enthusiastic, possessing a dramatic flair and vocal intensity that is an essential part of the Styx sound.

Shout Outs: This thread could not have been completed without the help of Styx expert BAZanine , to whom I extend an immense amount of gratitude to for both his notewatching work on this thread and for his assistance in figuring out the tricky harmony parts. I would also like to send a strong shout out to Baronessa for her assistance in sorting through the standout notes of the thread and a shout out to Holsety for assisting with the description.
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*Underlines mark notes in backing vocals or otherwise muffled/obscured in the song mix.
*Blue marks noticeably soft and/or disconnected sounding falsetto notes.
*Boldface marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this person's vocal capabilities.
*Italics mark non-sung notes.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}G♯5 ("Chain Me Down" ^[1])
F5 ("Heavy Metal Poisoning" ^[1], "Homewrecker" ^[1])

G♯2 ("High Time" ^[2], "Lords of the Ring" ^[2])
F♯2 ("Dark Side" ^[3])
F2 ("Amazing Grace" ^[1])
E2 ("Snowblind" live Chicago 1993 ^[1])
E♭2 ("Love is the Ritual" ^[2])

.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album Ranges}Styx

Styx (1972): D3-C5 BAZanine
Styx II (1973): B3-B4-C♯5 Zedd Squared
The Serpent Is Rising (1973): D3-E♭5 BAZanine
Man of Miracles (1974): B♭2-F♯5 Zedd Squared
Equinox (1975): A2-D5 Zedd Squared
Crystal Ball (1976): G2-B4-G5 Zedd Squared
The Grand Illusion (1977): E3-E♭5 Zedd Squared
Pieces of Eight (1978): B2-G3-B4-D5 Zedd Squared
Cornerstone (1979): D3-D5 BAZanine
Paradise Theatre (1981): D3-B4-F5 BAZanine
Kilroy Was Here (1983): D3-A4-C5 Zedd Squared
Edge of the Century (1990): A2-B3-B4-D5 BAZanine
Brave New World (1999): B2-A4-C5-G5 BAZanine
Cyclorama (2003): F♯2-C♯3-A4 Zedd Squared
Big Bang Theory (2005): E2-A4-E5-G♯5 Zedd Squared
The Mission (2017): G2-E4-G4-B♭4 BAZanine

Solo

City Slicker (1985): F♯2-C3-G5 Zedd Squared
Out on a Day Pass (1988): F2-G2-E5 BAZanine
Raised by Wolves (1995): A2-B4 BAZanine

[BAZanine]

Got some fuckinnnn range expansion for ya.



He also hits it here:



EDIT: also some A2s in here.



Some B♭2s here; sounds like he implies a G2 but I don't really hear it.

[IhateMana]

man went to Nick Cave Community College to learn how to G#4

[BAZanine]

A handful of G5s in here, most notably a sustained one at 9:48:

[Zedd Squared]

Finally got around to adding these notes, thanks for the rare finds BAZanine! I've been bit by the Styx bug for the first time in a bit so figured I'd check in on this while I'm here - anything you'd like help with on the other Styx range threads? I noticed that they're still in the WIP section.